


Babylon

by saltedfish (Kuchiki)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, star wars episode
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Laywer!Ben, TW: Mention of Abuse, TW: Really unhealthy relationships, Taxidriver!Rey, and (short) road trip shennanigans!, i love them i really do, i try and fit all the tropes here, later chapters will probably be much darker, this was inspired by a song, tw: substance abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 09:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15905190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuchiki/pseuds/saltedfish
Summary: Babylonˈbabɪlɒn/noun:a prosperous, important city of Mesopotamia from the 18th to 6th century that met its downfall with the end of the Assyrian Empire as her people grew restive and increasingly disaffected. The King was killed, and the city taken in a night.Rey Niima is about to start her last year at college, but there's one problem: she's still two thousand dollars short for tuition. And so, she takes up the job of becoming a taxi driver until she can make ends meet. But when Ben Solo, law prodigy turned whistle blower, jumps into the back seat of her taxi, requesting to taken to anywhere but here, Rey finds herself unable to deny him. Especially when he offers her something she desperately needs: enough money for college.





	Babylon

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is shamlessly brought to you by my binge listening of "Babylon" by 5 Seconds of Summer. It was such a reylo song and this fic practically wrote itself. This takes place in a modern setting, and I am such a sucker for tropes. Let's see if we can hit them all! 
> 
> It's been some time since I dabbled in fic writing, I hope I haven't lost my touch! On to the story!!

_Chapter 1_

_"I see it on your face, a small trace, a blank slate, we’ve been erased"_

 

* * *

 

It was almost hypnotic, the tok tok tok of the meter in her taxi, always in beat, counting out her earnings in measured steps. Rey Niima, barely a day over 21, had dropped off what she thought would be her last passenger for the night when the little screen of the taxi booking system lit up. There was a request for a pick up barely 500 meters from where she was. Rey was tempted to ignore it in favour for an early night in, and maybe a chance to read the new books her friends Finn and Poe had gifted her for her birthday. She hadn't had a chance to properly celebrate her own birthday, her day spent equally at college and in her little taxi.

 _College isn’t going to pay for itself_ , she had always ruefully said when concerned friends asked if she was actually getting any sleep in the week.

 _But books and a warm mug of tea,_ that treacherous part of her mind supplied as Rey glanced again at the booking, hoping that someone else had snapped it up, giving her a legitimate excuse to turn in. It was still there. The little clock on her dash read  12:02 am.

 _Oh what the hell,_  Rey thought,  _the midnight surcharges just kicked in, I’ll just take him then go home._

She flipped the switch, and the sign atop her taxi changed from ‘Available’ to ‘On Call’ as she smoothly pulled into the main road. Lit by the unnatural orange glow of the street lamps, Rey squinted at the house numbers. She was looking for a 1 Coruscant Drive.  _9, 7, 5,_ Rey mumbled under her breath as she turned in to Coruscant Drive. It was home to a rather nice row of houses, Rey might say so herself.

 _Houses that I’ll never be able to afford,_ she added as an afterthought.

As she was reaching the end of the street, she spied a large group of people standing around outside one of the houses. Great, a house party. She wrinkled her nose ever so slightly. Hopefully her pick up wasn’t drunk and just that tiny bit away from puking over her back seat. Rey might have a strong stomach, but no amount of scrubbing or car scents and perfume would mask the smell of vomit for the next 3 days. She really would want to avoid that. She glided past the rather peculiar crowd who seemed a bit too old to be at a house party and put the blinkers on as she waited for her mysterious passenger to turn up.

The minutes slowly ticked on and Rey started fidgeting in her seat, impatient to drop off whoever this prick was and get back to her apartment. After 5 minutes have passed without the passenger showing, Rey was seriously contemplating about turning her taxi around and leaving. She huffed.

_30 more seconds and if the bastard doesn’t show, I’ll turn around and go home. 30, 29, 28, 27, 26..._

The back door suddenly clicked open and admitted a dark bundle, slamming shut as quickly as it had opened. There was a moment of silence as Rey whipped her head around, stunned by the sound. She made eye contact with the passenger and was about to open her mouth and ask where he was going when the world around them exploded.

Flashbulbs, loud yelling, pounding on her cab. The man in her backseat slumped down even further, pulling his large black hat over his face in an attempt to make himself smaller and more invisible. He only succeeded in making himself look silly.

“Kriff.” Rey swore. “What on earth-”

The man cut her off. “The airport, please.”

“What?”

“The airport, where people take flights out of this god forsaken place.” The man snipped, warily poking his head up to peek out of the windows. The reporters were still swarmed around the cab like a beeswarm.

Rey blinked. “I know what the airport is, thank you very much. But I can’t move a damn inch with all these people surrounding us.”

The man sighed painfully, “Just run them over and save us all the trouble.”

“And that would be 20 charges of manslaughter on my head.” Rey fired back. “They’re reporters?”  

The man grunted. Rey turned around, her eyes widening.

“Who are you?”

“Haven’t you seen the news?” The man grumbled, pulling his hat down further across his face, the brim casting long shadows on pale skin in the orange light of the street lamps.

“I’ve had a busy day.” Rey shrugged. “Didn’t have time to check it yet.”

“Thank the maker. It doesn’t matter then. Just get to the airport. Quickly. I’ll pay you double if you get out of here now.”

Rey opened her mouth to ask another question, but snapped it shut. He might rescind that offer if she didn’t get moving.

With a prompt, “You got it.” Rey blared her horn loudly and switched on her fog lights, gently easing the vehicle into a higher speed as the reporters all smartly jumped out of the way. One or two enthusiastic photographers tried to run after the taxi, but once Rey was sure she was in no danger of killing anyone, she floored it.  

 

* * *

 

The city passed by in a blur. It might be past midnight, but the nightlife scene was still bustling. Red, blue, white neon lights blurred into coloured streaks as the little yellow taxi flew down the now empty roads. When Ben Solo was sure there was no one tailing them, he took himself out of the self-imposed slouch and settled comfortably into the worn seats. He took a minute to catch his breath. It was the only moment of solitude and silence he had managed to snatch in the down right insane day he had.

He thought he was prepared for the onslaught that would come when he released the sensitive documents implicating that his boss, Snoke, and his company, the First Order, had a hand in influencing the outcome of the most recent elections. Ben was once again proven wrong. At 8am, he uploaded the last of the files and hit send on the emails that went out to every major new site, several members of the opposition and the corrupt practices bureau. 25 minutes passed before the first of the calls came through, and his phone had not stopped ringing ever since. Reporters, photographers, interviewers, the police, the government, his colleagues back at the First Order, even his mother of all people needed to get hold of him for some reason or another. He gave statements to all who wanted them in his trademark calm and collected, almost disinterested, manner. He had prepared for that. What he had not prepared for was for Snoke’s retaliation. He thought he caught the man unguarded, but Snoke would never be caught with his metaphorical pants down.

Snoke had been a lawyer for as long as Ben had been alive. Intrigue, subterfuge, being two steps ahead of everyone else, it’s his forte. Ben should have known that. It took one phone call, a simple “ _I’ll release everything too._ ” For Ben to go back to when he was 24, an adult in appearance but still a woeful, petulant child at heart. It made his blood still and heart pump with adrenaline. Fight or flight. He packed a bag and ran.

And now, the present. Sitting in a taxi, running away from the one place that he felt truly at home. He sighed noisily, dragging a hand down his face.

“You okay back there?” The taxi driver asked, breaking the silence between them.

He mumbled something unintelligible. They lapsed into silence as the world sped past them.

“Uh, so where would you be going?” The driver asked carefully, afraid that she might anger him. Ben straightened up and actually considered her question. Where was he going to go?

“I have no idea.” He said truthfully. He just needed to get away. Far far away. If he runs far enough, maybe his problems won’t catch up to him.

“To be honest, and not that I’m saying that you are, but if I’m running from the law, I wouldn’t go to airport, you know.” She quipped. He couldn’t tell if she was joking or dead serious.

The driver thought that he was skipping town? That was rich, considering what he had done not 24 hours ago, blowing the whistle on what he thinks will be considered the biggest scandal for a few years to come. For some strange reason, he was offended that she thought him to be some common criminal. He let out a bark of laughter. Why did he even care about her opinion? He’s going insane.  

“I just exposed perhaps the biggest political scandal of our time, I am not some thief.” He said as a matter of reply, a touch offended.

“That explains the reporters. And the running away. Is someone trying to kill you?” She asked. Ben nearly rolled his eyes. This girl has a tendency for the dramatic.

“Not in the physical sense. I need to lie low for a few days until this all blows over.”

“Ohhh.” She nodded, as if finally understanding a difficult concept in her textbooks. “I can’t recommend any good vacation spots, but people seem to like the Maldives and other beach places enough.” 

Somehow, the sun and the san appealed to him less than being back home with the reporters. She glanced at the rear-view mirror and saw the look on his face.

She smiled a little. “Not a beach person?”

“No. It’s all tourist traps.” 

Her grin widened. “I always tell that to Finn and Poe! But they always insist that we need to go there one day.” She said. “Finn and Poe are my friends,” she added as a clarification when she saw Ben’s slightly confused face. “So you’d be going to a big city? Hong Kong? Jarkata? Tokyo?” She continued, not waiting for another response from him.

“Too far,” Ben concluded after a moment’s thought.

“If I want to catch a break, I usually take a quick trip down to Aldrea, there’s a lovely inn near the river. The owner, Maz, is really nice. A little eccentric, but she makes the meanest drinks and lets me take the boat out fishing. Have you gone fishing before?”

Ben almost missed the cue to reply. The whole day he spent talking, talking and talking some more. Letting someone just sit there and chatter, especially his driver with the awfully nice voice, was...nice.

“Where’s this Aldera you speak of?” He asked, his mind suddenly kicking back into gear.

“Hm? It’s about a 3 hour’s drive if you go by the Commenor Highway route. I did it in 2 hours the last time though.” He swore her chest puffed out a bit in pride at that statement. Ben ignored that bit of self-praise and thought deeply. 3 hours away wasn’t exactly far enough, but even if he didn't know that this Aldera existed, then the chances of someone finding him there would be slim. Come to think about it, people would assume that someone like him would have left the country, not hole away in some town nearby. He made up his mind.

“If you can take me there in under 3 hours, I'll pay you however much you want.”

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1 down! I think this fic will be about 10 chapters long, with updates once every 2 weeks or so. Let me know what you think!


End file.
